NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE -- nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture

To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.

Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child.

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish emigrant twice over: she spent eight years in Cambridge doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature before moving to London, Ontario, where she lives with her partner and their two children. She also migrates between genres, writing literary history, biography, stage and radio plays as well as fairy tales and short stories. She is best known for her novels, which range from the historical (Slammerkin, Life Mask, Landing, The Sealed Letter) to the contemporary (Stir-Fry, Hood, Landing). Her international bestseller Room was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and was a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes. For more information, visit www.emmadonoghue.com.

NY Times

Guardian

Reviewed by Aiman.A
on
Oct 06 2012

...despite the horrifying plot of the story, Room isn't a scary book, but rather, an interesting yet sad perspective of a young boy and his differences to other kids his age, due to being in confinement all his life. A must-read for all readers who want to brave something different.

Guardian

Reviewed by Nicola Barr
on
Jul 31 2010

In the hands of this audacious novelist, Jack's tale is more than a victim-and-survivor story: it works as a study of child development, shows the power of language and storytelling, and is a kind of sustained poem in praise of motherhood and parental love.

Blog Critics

Reviewed by Secret Housewife
on
Jun 11 2011

I reached the end feeling glad that I had read it, but really not caring too much about the future of the Jack or Ma. It’s certainly worth a read, but don’t expect to be putting it in your ‘All-time Favourite’ section of the book shelf.

The Telegraph

Reviewed by Catherine Taylor
on
Aug 15 2010

What saves this beautifully nuanced book from being in any way a voyeuristic reaction to true crime is less the descriptions of captivity than the inevitably changing nature of the child/parent relationship, which Donoghue explores here so minutely, recognisably and exultantly.

The Bookbag

Reviewed by Robin Leggett
on
Jul 10 2015

It's a brave, beautiful and haunting book but told in as upbeat manner as it's possible to do and the author's ability to get inside the mind of a five year old in an almost impossible to imagine situation is amazing.

Dallas News

Reviewed by Joy Tipping
on
Sep 19 2010

We've all heard the recent stories about women and children held captive for years. For anyone who's thought, "How do you survive that?" Donoghue provides mesmerizing insight, in a voice at once winsome and blistering.

Full Stop

Reviewed by Virginia Smith
on
Jan 19 2011

...Donoghue is a smart enough writer to know that these kinds of moments create a more tangible sense of closeness between her readers and her characters, all but guaranteeing that they’ll stay with you to the end of this unexpected meditation on voyeurism, relationships, and the nature of recovery.

Metro

Reviewed by Claire Allfree
on
Aug 04 2010

...lyrical speech patterns beautifully capture the intense, abnormal richness of the pair’s sensory-deprived existence. Until, that is, the outside world intrudes...breaks the spell of Donoghue’s novel. From this point...becomes a typically...observed study of two people trying to negotiate a new freedom.

Cairo 360

Reviewed by Sara Aggour
on
Sep 17 2012

The author sheds a bright light on an extremely sensitive topic using an original, invigorating approach. She tastefully converted what could have been a depressing and disturbing story to a riveting and compelling tale.

The Mancunion

Reviewed by Phillipa Moran
on
Oct 09 2012

The style is simple, but effective, and very accessible. Donoghue cleverly uses the pure, innocent language of a young child to describe horrors that Jack doesn’t understand, but that the reader instantly grasps.

Teen Ink

Teen Ink

Reviewed by Writomania
on
Sep 30 2015

Room is all about the cruelties inflicted on a poor family by an sadistic man and how, ­despite the odds, they have the will to survive. When we read about this woman who is considered dead and this young boy whose existence is unknown, who gather the courage to stand up and fight, it gives us strength to overcome obstacles too.

Maryse's Book Blog

Reviewed by Maryse
on
Nov 02 2015

...I don’t want to give anything else away. This is definitely one to experience in it’s pure, very raw (excellently so), form. It’s an in-depth, frustrating and often heartwarming exploration of both of these characters as they navigate their world. At times suffocating and terrifying, at times heartening and hopeful.

Jen's Book Thoughts

Reviewed by Jen Forbus
on
Jan 14 2011

There were times where I would think, "really? Jack gets this concept but not that concept?" So some of those elements didn't seem like they balanced exactly right, but I think I was drawn to those details because Donoghue examines their lives at such high magnification. Those details were fleeting in the overall wonderfulness of ROOM.

Write Meg

Reviewed by Meg
on
Jan 20 2011

It’s unbelievable. What’s worse, too, is that the novel has a “ripped from the headlines” feel at points, particularly with mentions of paparazzi and news interviews. This really could be happening...it’s a sensational and unforgettable novel. Not to be missed.

https://lareviewofbooks.org

Reviewed by Sarah Blackwood
on
Nov 04 2015

...reader, I hated it...Room is a misogynistic exploration of the suffering misogyny causes women... I am tired of being asked to get so breathlessly excited about, impressed by, and thankful for portraits that look so closely at women’s deep suffering and yet somehow manage to still not see.

https://rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress.com

Reviewed by rhapsodyinbooks
on
Dec 17 2010

This book tells a nightmarish story, and yet, since it comes entirely from five-year-old Jack’s perspective, it is much less disturbing than it could have been...And the abuse of his mother by Old Nick is something he describes in a confused way without understanding what he is saying.

https://bookmunch.wordpress.com

Reviewed by Clare Hey
on
Aug 25 2010

Powerful and moving, Room is a thought-provoking novel. Yes, it’s a page turner and a book you’ll probably read in one sitting, but it is more than that. Room stays with you and, yes, do believe the hype: it will change you.

The Oddness of Moving Things Blog

on
May 30 2011

I won’t go into any of the details about what happens outside Room, but suffice to say the thriller portion of the book is not only in the first half, you want to laugh and you want to cry as you’re reading the novel.

Lovely Treez Reads

on
Aug 20 2010

Emma Donoghue had produced an astounding novel here, perfectly capturing the voice of a child held in captivity whose emotional and physical growth are evidently stunted yet Jack emerges as one of the more memorable characters in literature and you will be totally engaged by his particular take on the world as he knows it.

Literary Corner Cafe Blog

Reviewed by Literary Corner Cafe
on
Nov 08 2010

Obviously, for me, it didn’t work at all. I thought the premise was wonderful, but I felt Donoghue failed to deliver. I honestly can’t understand how this book even made the Booker longlist, let alone the shortlist. I expect more depth and insight from a Booker nominated work.

Melody & Words

Reviewed by Melody Schreiber
on
Nov 08 2010

This is the kind of book you race through, bursting with the characters’ contagious anguish and passion, but when you reach the end you instantly regret your haste. But then you have the pleasure of flipping back through the pages and relishing once again Donoghue’s masterful storytelling ability.

The Cascade

Reviewed by Leanna Pankratz
on
Mar 14 2012

Room is not a novel to pick up and throw away, nor a casual “beach read,” but a readable pseudo-study of the effects that big, horrible events have on a child, and the resilient spirit of mother and son that overcome them.

http://bookloverbookreviews.com

https://theprettybooks.wordpress.com

on
Oct 06 2011

Overall, I thought Room was fascinating and brilliantly done. I did have a few reservations, which is why I do not feel I can say I ‘loved it’ and give it the full five star rating. I mainly had issues with part 3. I found it to be less realistic than the rest of the novel and it impaired my enjoyment.

https://www.psychologytoday.com

Reviewed by Amy J.L. Baker
on
Dec 22 2015

What makes the book so powerful is that it truly captures the world from the perspective of a child and what the story shows so clearly is that what adults think and believe and know about what is best for children is not always consistent with what children like or want.

Paulette Alden

Reviewed by Paulette
on
Sep 19 2011

Jack’s experiences, observations, feelings and thoughts are all clever, original and creative, but too much of a good thing for 321 pages. The ending is moving and works, but I could have gotten there about 50 pages sooner.

https://kevinfromcanada.wordpress.com

on
Aug 14 2010

They escape to Outside in a development that does defy all credibility and sets the book on its downward slope...I am not unhappy that I read it, but I can’t say that I look forward to a second read...

https://theasylum.wordpress.com

on
Aug 12 2010

It dwindles almost to nothing in the second half. In the end, although Room manages not to be ghoulish or exploitative about the real cases which were (according to the acknowledgements) its inspiration, it also fails to capitalise on the wonderful fictional opportunities that such a set-up promises.